Comments on: Is the MVP award racist?

By: Chris W

Chris W — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:45:56 +0000

Landis was undeniably a racist who did much to damage the game of baseball by working to keep blacks out of the game.
But on the other hand, he did a lot to help bring the game of baseball into the twentieth century. His hardline stance on gambling was essential to baseball retaining much of its respect in the eyes of the public. And he really did kind of bring to the end the good ol’ boying between the league presidents and faltering team owners who had the interests in their league placed above the interests of MLB as a whole.
Is that a zero sum or a negative sum thing? Maybe. But it’s important to remember that even though people were racist (even hugely racist) in the context of their time, that that didn’t mean their positive contributions were nonexistent. Right?
I mean, we wouldn’t choose to name an award after Landis in this day in age. Heck, given the climate of public consensus we’d be more likely to name an award after Joe Jackson. But given that the award already has this name, is this really even something worth getting upset about? Landis did a lot of good things and although he was an insidious part of segregation, it’s not like he wasn’t doing it as a representative of what the owners wanted. This seems kind of kneejerk–and this is coming from a guy (viz. me) who thinks that people who say “must we find racism in EVERYTHING” are being willfully obtuse.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:50:09 +0000

Always. I have to put little post-its with my name on them on my Coke Zeros.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:43:09 +0000

OK. I do see you have some of the bigger threads on a sidebar. Does Gleeman steal stuff from the office fridge?

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:22:58 +0000

I see every comment, Jon, no matter how old. I think most folks move on after not too terribly long, however. We’re looking into working out some sort of “bumping” system a la BTF for more active threads.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:21:16 +0000

Quick question: How active are the threads here? Do I have to comment right away before they die or do they have a longer shelf life, like at BTF? I believe that this is the first thread I’ve posted in here.

By: Wooden U. Lykteneau

Wooden U. Lykteneau — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:45:18 +0000

Well, if Tom Tango says it might be, don’t bother arguing to the contrary on his site. He welcomes dissent like Josef Stalin.

By: GBSimons

GBSimons — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 08:44:35 +0000

The article’s title got my attention, smsetnor’s comment made me laugh, and billybill’s comment made me sigh. Oh, the emotional roller coaster of a Craig Calcaterra reader.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:52:56 +0000

Tom Tango just doesn’t like the BBWAA. He constantly calls them the Holy Writers.

By: billybill

billybill — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:23:30 +0000

The name proves the award is racist.Thanks for your brilliant reporting.You definitely deserve a Pulitzer for this one.Before accepting it you should check to see if that award is racist too.

By: Mark Armour

Mark Armour — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:40:20 +0000

There is disagreement as to what role, if any, Landis played in maintaining the color barrier. See SABR’s 2008 Baseball Research Journal, for example.

By: smsetnor

smsetnor — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 01:27:46 +0000

Do I get bonus points for know it was named after Landis? No? Well, you’re a jerk then, Craig. Freaking Yankee lover.

By: Kenny L

Kenny L — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:57:55 +0000

The best way to go through life is with your head buried in the sand. Or wherever you have your head stuck.

By: Kenny L

Kenny L — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:55:57 +0000

The best way to through life is with your head buried in the sand. Or wherever you have your head stuck.

By: Kenny L

Kenny L — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:55:08 +0000

The best way to through life is with your head buried in the sand. Or wherever you have your head stuck.

By: Roger Moore

Roger Moore — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:54:40 +0000

There’s another good reason that nobody mentions that the award is named after Landis: nobody likes renaming an existing thing. The modern version of the award was established in 1931, with slightly different versions going back for some time before that. When there’s 20+ years of tradition behind the MVP award, nobody is going to like renaming it. They could have named it after somebody who was universally loved and they still would have had an uphill battle getting the new name accepted. Instead, they named it after an autocrat who had 25 years worth of enemies in the game; there was no real chance the name change was going to stick.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:35:03 +0000

I say leave the title alone. Every time they give the award to a ballplayer of color, they're rubbing Landis' nose in it. Goody, say I. As far as Chief Wahoo, I agree. He looked ridiculous on the side of that DC-3 in Major Leagues as well. I think it would be funny, though, if they ever finally do figure out how to make a movie of Blood Meridian, if one of the Comanche warriors in the filibuster massacre scene wore a Cleveland Indians uniform top.

By: Dan Novick

Dan Novick — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:58:55 +0000

Well that title is one way to draw attention to your article.